The Slap - Christos Tsiolkas

Although complex and engrossing, this initially struck me as a disappointing missed opportunity of a book. The main premise is timely and interesting, but the characters through which it is explored came across as unsympathetic stereotypical extremes, almost caricatures. I also found the writing style alienating - the male characters all seemed to see the world through a filter of sexual desire and barely-controlled violence, and casual racism & infidelity seemed to be the norm. I almost abandoned it part-way through, but it did improve after the first few chapters. Gradually-revealed back-stories added depth and complexity to some of the characters when it was their turn to speak (e.g. the smothering mother who blanked out all negative thoughts in her attempt to cancel out her own past and her initial inability to bond with the baby), and the later sections told from the point of view of the two teenagers were a little more appealing and hopeful. The author also displayed real skill and insight in the portrayal of the ambivalence of close relationships through the moment-by-moment reversals and fleeting contradictory beliefs in the interior monologues.